Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, speaking to reporters at a National Day ceremony in Krakow, said a presidential veto had complicated the process but the government had brought it to a conclusion.
"If everything goes well, we will sign the SAFE agreement on Friday and open a credit line for equipment purchases. Some has already been contracted — anti-drone defense equipment, for example. The largest share will go to new technologies, a very important component of cyber defense", he said.
Kosiniak-Kamysz said May would be a month of multiple contracts with Poland's domestic defense industry. He named steelmaker Huta Stalowa Wola and munitions firm Mesko as priority partners, adding that equipment not produced in Poland would be sourced from allied nations.
The government's SAFE envoy, Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, said Saturday that the signing would involve four signatures from the Polish side — the defense minister, the finance minister and two representatives of state development bank BGK — along with two European Commission signatories: defense commissioner Andrius Kubilius and budget commissioner Piotr Serafin.
The EU's SAFE program provides EUR 150 billion in low-interest loans primarily for military equipment purchases, with preference given to European-made goods. The European Commission has allocated Poland EUR 43.7 billion to fund defense projects including the Eastern Shield program, anti-drone and air defense systems, artillery and military transport infrastructure. The government has pledged that 89% of the funds will flow to Polish industry.
Under EU rules, member states may place independent arms orders under SAFE only until the end of May; after that deadline they must identify partner countries for each purchase — a constraint that makes the timeline critical for Poland, which plans to direct most purchases to its domestic industry.
President Karol Nawrocki vetoed legislation implementing SAFE in mid-March. In response, the government passed a resolution authorizing the defense and finance ministers to sign the loan agreement on its behalf, with BGK taking on the loan for the Armed Forces Support Fund.
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Source: PAP